Emergency Spacewalk Repairs ISS

Astronauts Marshburn and Cassidy  worked outside the ISS this morning.

Now see, when NASA needs to get something done, they just do it. This morning at 6:44 am MDT astronauts Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy opened the hatch to space and went for a little repair EVA on the outside of the station. During the 5 1/2 hour EVA, they removed a damaged coolant pump and replaced it with a spare that had been previously brought up to the station and temporarily placed nearby, ready for eventual use. The spacewalk, the 168th EVA in support of the maintenance and construction of the ISS, went quickly and successfully. It was a great example of close ground and orbital cooperation that went faster than we might have expected. Kudos to mission control, the engineers at Johnson Space Center and the resourceful astronauts of Expedition 35.

The commander of Expedition 35, Chris Hadfield, will turn over command of the station on Sunday to Expedition 36 commander Pavel Vinogradov at about 1:40 pm. MDT. Hadfield and his crew will prepare for a landing on Earth the next day.